Amid Trump Tariffs, Farm Bankruptcies And Suicides Rise
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Pat Sheldon, a corn and soybean farmer from Percival, Iowa. (Annie Gowen/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Farmers are pretty much under stress all the time since many factors that affect their livelihood are outside of their control. However, over the past few years the combination of lower prices, rain that has created havoc with their ability to plant and finally China freezing the imports of U.S. grown crops due to President Trump’s tariffs has unfortunately created almost the perfect storm against them.
Corn and soybeans are the largest cash crops grown in the U.S. per NASS , the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service.
After China made its announcement that it would stop importing U.S. agricultural products American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall said, “China’s announcement that it will not buy any agricultural products from the United States is a body blow to thousands of farmers and ranchers who are already struggling to get by.
The Farm Bureau report showed that farmer bankruptcies had risen in every region of the U.S. for the year ending in June except for the Southwest. Wisconsin, Kansas and Minnesota led the nation in Chapter 12 filings; bankruptcy filings in Kansas and Minnesota increased so significantly in the past year that they reached the highest levels of the past decade
Farmers are probably the first to realize that they will have lost a lot of Chinese market share to other countries or that China will start to grow more of the crops they have been importing. It has taken decades to grow the Chinese market but a significant amount will be lost in just a few years due to Trump’s tariffs and China’s retaliation.
All of this has led to increased stress levels for farmers
The Farm Bureau and Morning Consult did a survey of rural adults and farmers to understand multiple aspects of mental health for this population. One of the findings was that 91% of farmers and farm workers think financial issues impact the mental health of farmers.
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All of this has led to increased stress levels for farmers
The Farm Bureau and Morning Consult did a survey of rural adults and farmers to understand multiple aspects of mental health for this population. One of the findings was that 91% of farmers and farm workers think financial issues impact the mental health of farmers.
Fox News Interview
A Newsweek article in May detailed a Fox News interview with Patty Edelburg, vice president of the Washington-based National Farmers Union, which represents about 200,000 U.S. farms. In the interview she said, "It has been insane.
We've had a lot of farmers—a lot more bankruptcies going on, a lot more farmer suicides. These things are highlighting many of the news stories in our local news."
Soybean farmer in Minnesota has seen increased suicides
In a CNN interview in May, Minnesota soybean farmer Bill Gordon said, “With these added tariffs farmers are not getting their credit lines renewed, banks are coming in and foreclosing on their farms, taking their family living away and it's too much for some of them. We have seen a definite increase in the suicide rate and depression in farmers in the U.S., especially in the Upper Midwest.”
Yet trump says that the tariffs are being paid for by China and the farmers here in the USA are doing great.
At this point, I don't care that trump lies almost constantly, what bothers me is that after 12,000+ lies, most trump supporters take what trump says as absolute truth, no matter how stupid his lie is.
You're not going to vote for him anyway, so why do you care?
The meme going around about 12,000+ lies is not true.
TRUMP IN TWENTY-TWENTY!!!
Well that's a lie.
I see you have supplied no facts, figures, or statistics to back up your assertion.
Any tariffs have not been in effect long enough to have much impact on farmers. Trump is attempting to level the playing field with the Chinese thieves, who have been taking advantage of American presidential ass kissers for a long time.
So why the $28 BILLION in bailouts to farmers in the last 2 years?
By borrowing ANOTHER $28 BILLION from China.
Its not my assertion!
This is a seeded article--- these "assertions" are by the author of the article.
(Which, BTW, is a seed from the original article in Forbes, a highly respected business magazine).
Maybe Mexico will volunteer to pay for the tariffs?
After all, they been so kind as to volunteer to pay for The Wall-- so I'm sure the Mexicans are just chafing at the bit to pay the tariffs as well!
Try reading the article dumb ass.
Coal companies still closing, one of the largest just within the past couple of months. Steel jobs still declining, jobs still being outsourced. Companies still leaving, and farmers losing the farm literally. This is not "winning".
Stop being such pussies, trade wars are good and easy to win, you aren't actually feeling the pain, china is!